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G
rand Siècle, majestic, plain and unadorned, transparent, integrated or disintegrated, floating, aquatic, aerial, centred, off-centre or multiple – in one single horological season, more forms have been invented than between the time of the tourbillon’s original invention by Breguet in 1801 and the renaissance of mechanical watches in the late 1980s, in other words virtually two centuries. And the pace is not abating. Even its relative democratisation has scarcely dented the tourbillon’s aura. Its importance no longer lies in its regulatory function (which, as we have known for a long time, is useless in a wristwatch), but in the scope it affords for expression. A tourbillon lends itself to every configuration.
Constantly advancing design and 3D visualisation tools also play a role here. When are we going to see the first tourbillon dreamed up and designed by Artificial Intelligence, we might ask ourselves? In the meantime, tourbillons continue to strut their stuff. In one single horological season, more forms have been invented than between the time of the tourbillon’s original invention by Breguet in 1801 and the renaissance of mechanical watches in the late 1980s
In one single horological season, more forms have been invented than between the time of the tourbillon’s original invention by Breguet in 1801 and the renaissance of mechanical watches in the late 1980s
BOVET 1822 AMADEO FLEURIER 45
A seven-day skeleton tourbillon with reversed hand-fitting, the
Amadeo Fleurier Amadeo is entirely skeletonised by the watchmakers
themselves, who incorporated their own technical
constraints into its execution; the engravers then incorporated
their “fleurisanne” engravings. Taking pride of place at
6 o’clock, the tourbillon occupies the space with majesty, as if
beneath the sculpted, emblazoned pediment of some grand and
noble abode. From 100,000 to 200,000$.
F.P. JOURNE TOURBILLON SOUVERAIN RÉGENCE CIRCULAIRE
François-Paul Journe confidently affirms that his Tourbillon
Souverain, with its “constant force” winding system and a rare
dead-beat seconds system, is “thanks to its chronometric performance,
the most accurate on the market today”. In this model,
the F.P. Journe 1403 Calibre is presented on a dial in handengraved
white gold with the Régence Circulaire geometric
pattern. You can’t get much more classical than this throwback
to the Regency style of the eighteenth century, which in the
eyes of the Geneva-based watchmaker represents, stylistically
and technically, the “golden age of time measurement”.
From 100,000 to 200,000$
HARRY WINSTON HISTOIRE DE TOURBILLON 9
This triaxial tourbillon is the ninth iteration of a “history” that began
back in 2009, under a previous ruler, but which has been
faithfully continued by Nayla Hayek. Histoire de Tourbillon has
already supplied numerous exploded, strange, off-centre and
quirky double or triple-tourbillon variations. But the ninth chapter
of these exercises in style and watchmaking skill is, for once,
much more classic in appearance. It showcases the triple rotating
cage suspended in a shaft of light. Ceding the best place
to the tourbillon, the jumping hours and dragging minutes are
retrograde and occupy the upper section of the openworked dial.
Price on request
A. LANGE & SÖHNE TOURBILLON ENAMEL
The new white enamel dial adds the perfect finishing touch to
the 1815 Tourbillon! First issued in 2014, it is emblematic of the
horological approach of this Saxon watchmaker. Technically
faultless, with a stop-second feature and reset which is accurate
to the second, what renders it sublime is its indisputably
excellent finish and almost clinical legibility. The white enamel
perfectly sets off the complexity and density of the tourbillon’s
architecture. From 200,000 to 500,000$
BREGUET CLASSIQUE TOURBILLON EXTRA-PLAT AUTOMATIQUE 5367
Simplicity is the essence of true classicism: this timepiece is
reduced to its simplest expression and displays nothing but
the essential in the most minimal way possible: hours, minutes,
a tourbillon cage with a small-seconds dial, Breguet numerals,
and blued hands on a grand feu enamelled dial. What
more is there to say. From 100,000 to 200,000$
CARL F. BUCHERER MANERO TOURBILLON DOUBLE PERIPHERAL
A large tourbillon beats majestically at 12 o’clock, occupying
the entire upper section of an unadorned dial devoted solely to
its function of telling the time. But on the back, the movement
is fully exposed thanks to the peripheral winding mass. Thus
viewed from below, the tourbillon’s cage appears as if unattached
and suspended vertiginously in space, rotating freely.
In actual fact, it is driven peripherally by three ceramic ballbearings.
This is the first time that a peripheral automatic winding
system and a peripherally mounted tourbillon have come
together in one watch. A certified chronometer with a stopseconds
function, the CFB T3000 was developed from start to
finish by the watchmaker’s own engineers and watchmakers.
From 50,000 to 100,000$
LOUIS VUITTON MONTRE TAMBOUR MOON MYSTÉRIEUSE TOURBILLON VOLANT
Aligned vertically from 12 to 6 o’clock, a coaxial double barrel
– concealed beneath a Monogram flower – the wheels for the
hours and minutes and the flying tourbillon carriage hover. This
gossamer-light ensemble floats in space, the effect reinforced
by the absence of any connection between the winding crown
and the double barrel. This trompe-l’oeil effect is achieved thanks
to two sapphire discs using the now proven principle of the
mysterious movement, subtly adapted by La Fabrique du Temps.
From 200,000 to 500,000$
GIBERG NIURA
The first watch from the stone-setter and goldsmith Andreas
Altmann, this tourbillon is also a genuine, rare horological gem.
At the centre lies its driving force, the Giberg Tourbillon Volant
Trilevis 6118 manufacture calibre, a flying, double-barrel tourbillon
that displays the hours and the minutes and has a power
reserve of 72 hours. But it is so closely integrated into the structure
that surrounds it that the watch takes second place to the
jewellery. From 200,000 to 500,000$
DAVID CANDAUX 1740 HALF HUNTER TOURBILLON
Providing excellent protection for the dial glass, hands and
movement from shocks under extreme conditions, “Half-
Hunter” was the nickname of these antique captain’s watches
partially encased in metal, allowing only portholes for viewing
the required indications. David Candaux reinterprets this model
in a resolutely contemporary manner, by inserting a twice-inclined
tourbillon beneath one porthole, and beneath the other
a domed dial displaying the hours and minutes. Designed, built
and decorated by the hand of a master.
From 200,000 to 500,000$
RICHARD MILLE RM 71-01 TOURBILLON AUTOMATIQUE TALISMAN
Here, the ultra-technical character of Richard Mille watches is
combined with the jeweller’s art. Not simply by setting it with
stones, but thanks to a close technical, architectural and visual
dialogue between the two. With Talisman, Richard Mille is displaying
the “new impetus of the brand towards the feminine
world”, a market in which he intends to invest. His director of
Ladies’ Collections, Cécile Guénat, is the linchpin of this rapprochement,
which makes no concessions to mechanical considerations:
Talisman is thus the brand’s first automatic tourbillon,
while exalting its jewellery credentials.
From 200,000 to 500,000$
MECCANICHE VELOCI ICON TOURBILLON
Known for its multiple time zone Quattro Valvole watches and
their dials divided into four distinct subdials, here Meccaniche
Veloci presents its first tourbillon in this configuration. The
tourbillon occupies one of the portholes, while the three others
show three different time zones – one way of showing that a
tourbillon can be adapted to suit every possible configuration
and style. Even the most disruptive. From 50,000 to 100,000$
HYSEK IO SKELETON CENTRAL TOURBILLON
Set out like an amphitheatre that converges towards the central
arena where the tourbillon rotates, the architecture of the
IO tells the time in apertures starting from the top and leading
intuitively from the hour to the minutes, then to the seconds of
the flying tourbillon. But to display hours and minutes in an aperture
calls for discs that rotate beneath the dial. These, entirely
blanked and driven peripherally, are concealed beneath a fine,
semi-transparent matrix above the skeletonised movement,
which is driven by a micro-rotor. From 100,000 to 200,000$
HUBLOT BIG BANG TOURBILLON SAPPHIRE
The caseband, bezel and case back are cut from a sapphire
block; there are no bridges: just a tourbillon lug, also in sapphire,
and a fully skeletonised movement. Even the strap is in transparent
rubber – in fact everything has been done to make this Big
Bang as transparent as possible. “Sapphire opens up endless
possibilities,” claims Ricardo Guadalupe, Hublot’s CEO, who talks
of “crystalline mechanics”. From 100,000 to 200,000$
REBELLION WEAP-ONE ASYMMETRICAL FLYING TOURBILLON
This watch features a flying tourbillon suspended between the
hour and minute rollers, all housed in a detachable sapphire
tube so the watch can also be used as a mini desk clock. The
multi-axis tourbillon is suspended between two rotating plates,
with one turning in 60 seconds and the other turning in 30. The
double rotating axis creates asymmetrical movement in the
tourbillon in all positions. The innovative design is the brainchild
of Concepto and Fabrice Gonet.
From 200,000 to 500,000$
BULGARI OCTO TOURBILLON SAPPHIRE
This unique skeletonised watch literally glows, with the calibre’s
bridges serving as hour markers. The bridges are both functional
and decorative, coming in a luminescent blue that lights up at
night and covering the flying tourbillon cage located at 6 o’clock.
Another point of interest: pressing the crown displays a red dot
in an aperture at 3 o’clock, signalling that the watch is in timesetting
mode. Press again to turn time setting mode off and the
red dot will disappear. From 50,000 to 100,000$
KERBEDANZ MAXIMUS
A new black version of “the biggest tourbillon in the world” (27
mm in diameter) features on this wristwatch. The super-size
tourbillon is covered by a curved glass dome and rotates every
six minutes (not every 60 seconds). The moment of inertia of
the balance wheel is very high, ensuring a high rate of stability.
Another interesting aspect of this watch is that the wearer has
to rotate the case back to wind the four barrels that power
the watch. From 100,000 to 200,000$
MB&F HM7 HOROLOGICAL MACHINE NO. 7 AQUAPOD FLYING TOURBILLON
The original design inspired by the radially symmetrical shape
of jellyfish came out in 2017. This year’s version is in titanium
with a green sapphire crystal bezel. The organic 3D design is
dominated in the centre by a flying tourbillon.
Like all diving watches, it features a rotating bezel, in this
model in the form of a lifebuoy. While the watch can be worn
in the water (watertight up to 5 atm), it is not suitable for deep
sea diving. Like many jellyfish, the watch glows in the dark and
three panels illuminate the tourbillon by night. From 100,000 to 200,000$
TAG HEUER CARRERA CHRONOGRAPH TOURBILLON CHRONOMETER “TÊTE DE VIPÈRE”
The midnight blue ceramic case houses the HEUER-02T movement,
which combines an automatic chronograph and a tourbillon,
both certified “Tête de Vipère” by the Besançon Observatory.
This chronometer and excellence certification is recognised as
the most exacting worldwide, focusing not just on the movement,
like the COSC certification, but on the watch as a whole,
which is submitted to a 16-day testing process.
From 10,000 to 20,000$
GIRARD-PERREGAUX NEO TOURBILLON THREE BRIDGES SKELETON
In 2014, Girard-Perregaux revisited the design of the Tourbillon
with Three Bridges to create the Neo Tourbillon model. The new
black version still features the iconic Three Bridges, updated
with a curved, arched and perforated design. The modern relevance
of the signature architecture is clear in the new version,
which has been fully skeletonised for the first time. There is no
baseplate and the calibre is suspended, like a work of art, and
magnified under a sapphire box.
From 100,000 to 200,000$
PANERAI LO SCIENZIATO LUMINOR 1950 TOURBILLON GMT
In order to make the watch as light as possible, the titanium
case was made using new technology to create an extremely
complex hollow structure without compromising water-resistance
(10 bar), integrity or resistance to stresses and pressure.
The DMLS (Direct Metal Laser Sintering) technique was used
to make the watch, which involves 3D printing powdered titanium
layer by layer using a fibre optic laser. The different
layers (each only 0.02 mm thick) gradually combine to create
a solid structure that would be impossible to achieve using
traditional machining. The appearance of the watch is completely
uniform and smooth and considerably lighter than a
traditional design. From 100,000 to 200,000$
FRANK JUTZI L’ART DU TOURBILLON
Independent watchmaker and member of the AHCHI, Frank
Jutzi’s latest creation, l’Art du Tourbillon, is a new series of automatic
tourbillon wristwatches in 18 karat gold or stainless steel,
embodying a respectful homage to the art of traditional Swiss
watchmaking. The classic case and movement design is embellished
with a spectacular multilevel dial, and the signature
Frank Jutzi polished and sculpted arrow ploughshare hands
that originate from his native village. From 20,000 to 50,000$
ANDREAS STREHLER TRANS-AXIAL REMONTOIR TOURBILLON
In his quest for precision, Andreas Strehler has developed a
new movement which combines his Remontoir d’égalité (constant
force mechanism) with a tourbillon. Internal influences
on the already largely linear power supply from the epicyclically
limited twin mainspring barrels is filtered through the
constant force mechanism and transferred to a tourbillon escapement
mounted on the same axis to eliminate the influence
of gravity on the escapement. This escapement is hand wound,
using Andreas Strehler’s own true conical gear wheels (quite
unique in the watch industry). From 100,000 to 200,000$
ULYSSE NARDIN EXECUTIVE TOURBILLON “FREE WHEEL”
The “Free Wheel” design is like nothing you’ve ever seen before.
Imagine that all the major components of a watch have been
separated and deposited onto a black sapphire background
and put on show in a large glass box—that’s what this watch
is like. The tourbillon, power reserve indicator, barrel gear-train
and hands look as if they’ve been scattered almost at random,
with bridges in the shape of boomerangs placed on top. It’s a
splendid design that works surprisingly well.
From 50,000 to 100,000$
CORUM BUBBLE TOURBILLON
Is this the sign of a possible new Haute Horlogerie Bubble
collection? Or is it simply an example of how a tourbillon can
be just for fun? The signature Bubble shape, with its curved
sapphire glass dome and generous dimensions (47 mm), is
perfect for housing a classic central tourbillon. The hour and
minute markers are on the flange, indicated by two triangular
markers. The minute hand is black and the hour hand is blue.
The tourbillon indicates seconds. From 50,000 to 100,000$
ANGELUS U50 DIVER TOURBILLON
If you really want to dive with a tourbillon, the U50 Diver
Tourbillon, the first of its kind from Angelus, is the watch for you.
The watch features a helium valve so it can be worn during saturation
dives up to 300 metres. The movement was specifically
designed to be visible, with sturdy bridges and wheels, and
barrels firmly fixed between the two plates. The open design
doesn’t interfere with telling the time thanks to the contrast
between the blue and yellow flange and hands finished with
Super-LumiNova. From 20,000 to 50,000$
SPEAKE-MARIN TOURBILLON VERTICAL DOUBLE OPENWORKED
A 46 mm Piccadilly case houses two vertically-positioned tourbillon
cages on a transparent background. The entire movement
had to be rethought to accommodate the open-worked
tourbillon on the left side so that the two bridges could keep
the tourbillon away from the plate. The two tourbillons are aided
by a rate stabiliser that connects both plates through the balance
spring and helps compensate the speed of the two tourbillons
for perfect accuracy. From 200,000 to 500,000$.
All mentioned prices are indicative and correspond to price segment.
TO READ MORE
Europa Star Watch Curator ’18 is a selection of 147 watches classified under 13 specific trends:
Tourbillons - Globes - Sun, Moon & Stars - Purity - Open-worked - Skulls - Sport - Tough - New displays - Barocco - Vintage & Neo-vintage - Connected - Calibres.
